Four-star cornerback Nick Waisome (Groveland, FL) became the third Florida Gators commitment to leave the program since Nov. 29 after switching his pledge to the Florida State Seminoles on Monday.
Waisome, who originally picked Florida over Florida State when making his official commitment on Aug. 18, said as recently as Dec. 3 that he was “firm” in his decision even after former head coach Urban Meyer stepped down.
After previously taking a trip to Tallahassee, FL, he met with new head coach Will Muschamp while taking an official visit this past weekend and apparently things did not go as well as all had hoped. Waisome’s final decision will likely stick as he is planning to enroll early at the university of his choosing in Jan.
Waisome had previously stated that his relationship with the Gators’ coaching staff was one of the main reasons for his commitment. With a lot of turnover likely – especially at defensive coordinator – he may have felt uncomfortable with the situation. Especially considering he would have been enrolling at Florida without a position coach in place.
Four-star linebacker Ryan Shazier (Plantation, FL) left the Gators for the Ohio State Buckeyes on Dec. 17, and four-star defensive end Jeoffrey Pagan (Asheville, NC) decommitted in late Nov. Pagan had been back-and-forth over his decision. With Waisome’s departure, UF has lost their three best defensive recruits in under 20 days.
The Gators now have only five defensive commitments remaining as part of the 2011 class: four-star CB Louchiez Purifoy (Pensacola, FL), four-star athlete/safety De’Ante Saunders (Deland, FL), four-star DE Clay Burton (Venice, FL), three-star CB Chris Johnson (Ocala, FL) and three-star ATH/CB Valdez Showers (Madison Heights, MI).
Photo Credit: Scout.com
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Told ya Muschamp should have secured coordinators by now. MASS EXODUS
Considering that the 3 recruits were all defensive players—– naming an early OC wouldn’t have made a difference.
For the 3 kids that drop— there will be another 3 kids that will move into their place…
Oh well. The only recruits that matter to me are the ones that wind up in Gainesville!
Look at it like this…It’s a lot easier to be “overachieving” with 3 star recruits.
All kidding aside, he needs to secure coordinators ASAP.
don’t understand the comment from the poster above about the hiring of an OC not making a difference. Of course not, but in case you haven’t noticed, our DC left for a head coaching position a while back.
Ok I am a little bit wondering wtf. Pagen left before Meyer resigned and he was leaning out anyway so whatever. Shazier had a pretty good bond with Meyer but what bothers me is both him and now Waisome actually meet with Muschamp and then decide to leave. Waisome did not appear to be a threat toleave and then after he makes a trip to Gainesville he decides to jump? What is Will saying to them, or better yet, what is SOMEONE telling these kids? I hope this doesn’t get worse.
That really sucks…it is hard to recruit with only 2 coaches known to return. Hopefully ego did not play a role in this on our side. We have no momentum right now…damn
I am starting to panic a little now…Did Foley actually hire a guy that didn’t have a staff?
This one really stings. I thought this kid was all Gator……didn’t see this coming. Muschamp needs to do some damage control in hurry on Driskel and Blakely
Huge mistake not to announce OC and DC before the lackout – now we have 3 weeks that coaches cannot contact players – we are in big trouble. Especially SUCKS!!!!! that they are going to half-ass U.
Adam, seriously – what the h___ is going on that no coordinators have been named!
The guys(coordinators) worth having are probably working a bowl game about now. We’ll be alright; as long as Will has free rein.
Muschamp is starting to piss me off! Hire your staff already. We’re losing recruits left and right, and the thing is they’re all Defensive recruits. He better hire a staff now or else it’s going to get even worse.
This starting to annoy me now. Stop de-commiting!
Wow… coming apart at the seams. Schools taking full advantage of our coaching disarray. Hire some F’ing coaches NOW before we get out-recruited by UCF for cripe’s sake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So…. disappointed. Shazier I saw coming. Not this one.
Everyone needs to chill out. We will be fine. Our team is so top heavy with young defensive studs after last years haul, we can afford to lose a few. Sure it suck but everyone needs to get their head out of the stars. These ranking don’t mean crap half the time and we will be just fine as our defense gets more experience. FSU has been in the gutters for the last 6 years, you had to suspect they would have one or two good seasons and snag some recruits. Everything will fall back down to earth soon enough.
Well with coach Boom at the helm, i would not worry about our defense or our secondary. Besides we have riggs who will only be a soph, moses jenkins got an extra year, j brown will be back, also j watkins throw in the other 4 secondary recruits and we are in good shape. But any year u have coaching change kids are going to leave, new staff in house or not, i expect this class to take a hit, but we have plenty of talent in house. Plus id much rather hire the RIGHT guy and not just a guy. coach will is making a hire for the long run, and not the right now. And like one poster said, if three of four (4 stars) leave, thats more room for us to sign a huge class next year with a full staff.
We might not notice this year, or we may not notice until later in 2011, but meyer staying and bringing in all those defensive studs last class will pay dividens. I will help absorb some of the guys we may lose in this years class. So ill suffer a 7-5, 8-5 year to build to the future, once driskel has a year or so seasoned we will be feared by many. But who we hire as our O coordinator is very very important, and could make or break coach boom.
I feel like we have a ton of talent on the defense, let Muschamp and the new DC build on that, produce a strong competitive defense for next season, and then let the major recruits come next year.
WAY too early to start slamming our new HBC. Would rather
let him take time to assemble right staff than rush to try and save
a few kids who may be wavering because of change. Besides, he’s
also getting some other players to reconsider who had already
eliminated us. As for Waisome, may have wanted promises HBC not
willing to make, especially after a weekend in Tally and hearing
who knows what. Let’s give our new coach a break and let him try to
best prepare for the future. He’s got a tough enough job without
his own fans already jumping on him.
Muschamp should have already had a staff in mind when he
took the job. The fact that no one has followed from texas who is
not in a bowl is scary. I have this terrible fear that we tried to
get applewhite and smart and both turned him down. A head coach is
only as good as his staff (see meyer this year). Hopefully they
have a plan, they are smart guys.
We need cb’s… We are use to having the best corners in
the country. I’m not worried about losing waisome as much as I am
worried that his leaving will encourage others to do the same. I
hope muschamp can lock a few big names down before signing day. We
need to start the new regime off on the right foot. Go
Gators.
Mr2Bits, “Our team is so top heavy with young defensive
studs after last years haul, we can afford to lose a few.”…”These
ranking don’t mean crap half the time” Really?? Which one is it?
Last year the recruiting rankings count but this year after you
lose a couple 4* they don’t mean anything? BTW this is not on Will
Muschamp…your AD and Urban can take credit, Will Muschamp is just
trying to do the best Will Muschamp can with a garbage
situation.
What a bunch of overemotional drama queen idiots some of
you are. I’d rather have one middling recruiting class than several
bad seasons because you hired crappy coordinators just to get
someone quickly. And I’d bet Muschamp, who’s obviously smarter than
most of you, thinks the same way. If you want someone who’s focused
on a bowl game right now (and most of the good ones probably are),
then all you can do is wait. Almost all the bowls will be over
after January 1st, and the last one’s, what, the 10th? That’s still
weeks before signing day for anyone who’s super worried about who
he’s going to hire. The only ones you’re going to lose are the ones
who enroll early and have knee-jerk reactions because they
committed to the coach and not the school. If someone thinks going
to FSU and never winning anything sounds like a good idea, then let
him.
This may lure Dee Hart and Dixon with him to FSU. Let’s
face it we are getting crushed by them this year in
recruiting.
Alot of you sound foolish by saying things like “it doesn’t
matter if we lost him” or “FSU will never win anything”. Losing top
tier recruits always hurts! I am not a Nole fan, but guys, FSU is
kicking your ass this year in recruiting. They also believe it or
not know how to win. Not in the past few years, but that school had
to best run of any college program ever. It will be interesting to
see how the state of Florida shapes up in the next few
years.
The pendulum swings. I’m worried about the cb situation too
but, in 3 or 4 years we’ll get back to 10 11 win seasons. Maybe 8
or 9 next year. Let’s face it Jeremy brown and Moses Jenkins are
terrible, hopefully muschamp can coach em up. What is he saying to
these kids? I thought the defensive recruits would love this guy.
Super aggresivw on defense, lots of sacks and interceptions from
blitzing. Go Gators! Hopefully we field an entertaining team next
year. This year was disgusting to watch, almost painful.
Jesus guys, I haven’t seen this much panic since we hired Zook. Relax…….! Remember the last 3 top ten recruiting classes? Those kids are still here and waiting to get their shots. The cupboard is not bare. If Waisome and the rest didn’t like what they heard from Muschamp it’s probably because he did’t guaranty they would start. Some of these self-entitled overrated little shits believe their own hype and think they can come to Florida and start as a freshman without having to earn anything. Exa; Ronald Powell. This isn’t FSU. There’s a bunch of guys ahead of them who were recruited over the last 2-years that had the same number of stars behind their names when they were recruited. If you don’t want to earn a spot, go somewhere else. As far as OC is concerned, I’m sure he’s been offered and has accepted the position and is waiting to finish his bowl game out of respect for the program he’s coching. You guys should be worried about the BB team. Now there’s a program in trouble with no light at the end of the tunnel.
The news of losing these recruits is a bit disconcerting but none of these kids are really committed until NSD. Even then, they can always transfer if the school is not the right fit (i.e. Haden). I’m not so worried about the recruits as I am about the staff. WM needs to shorten his timetable on getting his staff together. There is a rumor that WM plans to name the OC this week. That would be a nice x-mas present. Hearing all the other schools filling out their staffing needs and not hearing anything from our own camp is making me nervous. No news is not necessarily bad news but may not be good either.
I love this site. Some of you are such emotional rollercoasters, I think you much take about 25 pills each morning just to calm the fears that the University of Florida is going to implode.
Adam, I think you should have a “bucket” that posters can contribute $$ to. Then the father(s) of all these recruits can negotiate a “pay to play” contract with you. According NCAA ruling, its not illegal.
Go Noles. Bring in HCD and Hart. Remember the UF dream class of 2010? It’s funny how guys from that class keep leaving because of attrition. It went from the all time greatest class to just a decent class with a couple studs. And Matt Elam… what a joke, the man is gonna go 0-4 or 1-3 against FSU is his career.
Adam – input here?!
If FSU lands O’Leary (and they will), Stewart and Jernigan then their class this year will be a lot better than ours from last year. I think we are in trouble with the recruiting – set back minimum 3 to 4 years.
It’s a grey area. You do not want your coach to rush and hire assistants just to keep a few recruits in the fold (especially because who knows if the recruits will even like those coaches); at the same time, it was disconcerting to hear that he had “no timetable” to do so during his opening press conference. Shazier and Waisome leaving at positions of relative depth and youth should not be a concern as long as no one else does. Florida has a lot of work to do on the recruiting front, but what’s interesting is that the defensive recruits are the ones who have left when the Gators hired a better defensive coach…yet the major offensive recruits (at least at this point) are the ones who seem not to be wavering at all even with a definite change of system. Quite surprising if you ask me. Whenever there is a coaching change the incoming class is bound to splinter somewhat. Because Waisome was an early enrollee, Florida didn’t have ample time to win him back. They’ll replace him.
@Moron : Dude, I’m not going to even waste my time explaining things to you. Take a hike!
FSU is trying everything they can into re-recruiting Matt Elam – including going on Gator blogs and trying to scare him into a transfer. We could get no recruits this year and still be deeper than FSU. Remember – their quarterback next year will be E.J. Manuel – who’s looked pretty lame in what I’ve seen of him so far.
Yes everyone, chill out. We are going to be fine, if we lose a couple this year, we will get a couple more. as many have said, we are deep in some of the areas that these kids are leaving and yeah, E. J. Manuel is not a good QB and FSU will not be that great next year.
FSU – beat us on a down year but other than that they have acheived nothing in over 10 years. They cannot even win the lowly ACC title. PATHETIC!
This is coming from a SCar fan guys. FSU is going to trounce UF again next year. You lost your O-Line, your QB situation is a mess, Demps is going to leave for track, Will Hill, the list goes on. I love how you guys always talk down to FSU. They embarrassed you this year and they’re only getting BETTER. Jimbo Fisher is now the King of Florida and it will remain that way for a few years to come. Sorry, but its true.
We have three starters back on our o-line (Nixon, Patchan& Halapilo) who was a fr last year. And if robey who will be a rd junior can snap the ball in a straight line, we will come out better than last year. We have all of our rb’s (demps wont leave hes to small, and his hands are a ?, rainey, gillislee, mack brown, plus blakely). All of our best wr’s back, Hines, Hammond, Debose, DT,Clarck, Patton,Burton who is a pure ath not a qb,….plus Dunkley and Dunbar who did not even play last year who will be studs. We have the #1 qb incoming, we will sort out a starter between now ans the end of next year. Bottom line we have young talent in the wings, we are UF and will continue to bring them in. So you worry about the Cocks, and your (LONE) SEC east title in the last 30 years, Congrads!!!!!!!
@reality checker: Florida hasn’t finished eating up the SEC. Its just pushed back from the table to loosen the belt. We still have plenty of appetite and well, this year was your best shot and you still managed to blow it. But thanks for hanging around. you can pick up the scraps when were done.
Reality Checker – first off Demps is going nowhere and if Jimbo Fisher is the king of football in Florida then the state has sank to pre – 1980’s depths. If you are a SCar fan then why are you on here touting another school? Just curious and don’t get to excited about your win this past year as our coaches checked out long before that and going forward it will be like always.
Non-Gators fans are more than welcome to come on here and comment. That being said, anything disrespectful either way in the form of personal attacks will not be tolerated. So the “moron” stuff I let slide for now…but let’s not get out of hand. Thanks.
– The Management
Some ppl. Are saying Muschamp doesnt want CBs under 6′. Muschamp recruited Waisome at Texas, but all of sudden after meeting him in person he doesn’t want him? Love the logic! Even if a player of Waisome’s caliber is “small” you find a role for him on the team. Every school in the country wanted Waisome, but we’re supposed to believe that Muschamp suddenly got picky. Also, Muschamp prefers another 5’10″ db Chris Johnson a 3 star w/ considerably less options over Riggs better find some heels to play in or he won’t see the field.
Sour grapes fellas and nothing more.
This is not meant to be a slight on the Gators, but out of genuine curiosity how many of the kids from your last class are still enrolled? And did any go JuCo?
Nole-
All but three. Two (Haden, Coxson) transferred before practice even really got underway and one (Dowling) was dismissed from the team.
I agree it’s funny we hire a Defensive guy and start losing D recruits…but the panic of some on hear is just pathetic…and who is to say we might have lost these guys any way even if Meyer would have stayed…we don’t know and I agree we need QB, RB and OL much more than defense at this point…and I would rather lose a few recruits and get the right coaching staff!!!
Adam- How many scholarships are we looking to fill with this class?
Not exactly sure at this point. Depends how many are available. Certainly more than 22…
There is still allot of time left to sign on the dot. UF has their name in many top tear players hats right now. Just wait until February as we will probably lose one or two more and steal a few more. Just the way it goes! Of course FSU will eat this junk up after we kicked them in the pills last year with Elam. Just let them brag and think they are king of the world right now. All will be right in Gator world in the next few years.
Is there some impression that we had a mass exodus from last year’s freshmen class? Two guys left and one idiot got booted. Hardly an incredible rate of attrition.
Lol @ “our AD and Urban can take credit, Will Muschamp is just
trying to do the best Will Muschamp can with a garbage
situation.”
This site is always filled with panic which makes it humorous at times to say the least. Muschamp could of named Mr. and Mrs. Waisome his OC and DC and Nick could of still switched. While I thought he was a solid commit guess he wasnt. I agree there are many young players on the team and who ever we lose we will replace. gators are not in c-usa they can get other 4 or 5 star recruits. This class will still be top ten maybe even top 5 I see muschamp finishing strong to add good players.
DGL- It is important to differentiate the site and the comments section.